While Gordon Brown was explaining the Great £50bn Bank Bail Out yesterday, he stated "we will insist on bank credit lines being extended to small business on a normal basis". How exactly will the PM's insistence manifest itself, I wonder? The FSB has already warned of the potential devastating impact to the economy overall as small businesses are increasingly squeezed from all sides. In its recent snap survey of 6,000 companies, 40% had seen a rise in the cost of bank facilities such as loans and overdrafts.

Many companies have received abrupt notice from their banks of new, higher charges in the past two weeks, and increased overdraft rates are already kicking in. So Brown's insistence really needs to be backdated if it's to be in any way meaningful for firms up and down the country who are already labouring under the impact of increasing costs from every direction, and justly feel as if they're being kicked while they're down. Let's hope the co-ordinated interest rate cut has a positive effect. I wonder how many SME business owners are feeling more optimistic about their finances and their future today than they were yesterday?

One thing has become abundantly clear amid all the financial chaos, that old cliché "cash is king" has never been more true. In these febrile times opportunities abound for bold and entrepreneurial business owners with ready access to a cash stash, and some companies will be able to transform their future fortunes as a result.

In fact, if you had circa £100m stuffed under the mattress you'd be able to pick up a leading and well-invested full service UK print group for a snip. This morning St Ives' market capitalisation was £98.4m, not far off half its net asset value. At this rate Mike Taylor and David Mitchell will be able to launch a bid using their loose change.